7 Year Rabbit Cycle – “Animal People ” – [Free Porcupine Society]

Max Level   1/2/2006   A Library, CD

A beautiful noisy mess in a lovingly hand-decorated sleeve. Wistful lyrics about eco-awareness and animal extinction. Romantic poetry. Rabbits, caribou, owls, trees, earth, sun, and moon. Angels. Slow kisses. Just a lovely release. But oh my god it is so f**ked up! The mix on the vocals and instruments is completely wrong, and full of distortion, overload, and feedback. Brilliant in its off-the-wall-ness. A couple of ex-Deerhoofers are behind 7YRC. Kelly’s vocals recall early Kim Gordon at her most pained. Rob’s guitar is insistent and jagged, and he adds violin as well. Miya sweetly tortures her bass. Drummer Steve crashes around on his kit and adds some bizarre vocals. In fact, everyone here sings at some point or other. Track 7 has a “road adventure” theme; it’s off-key and different from the rest, and it’s the only track I could do without. Songs often end abruptly, as though someone switched off the tape recorder even though the players weren’t quite done yet. Understandable because, really, what is there left to say after “food on my plate, water in my pail, rust in my bucket”? Track 8 is a 3-minute instrumental.